Van Gogh and Britain review: Just how much did London inspire the artist? March 28, 2019 You really don’t need much of an excuse to dust off a collection of Van Goghs, but Tate Britain has reached for one all the same with its latest exhibition of twenty of the man’s works. Van Gogh and Britain contextualises the artist’s output around his few interactions with this country, which amounts to a [...]
Why reports of Soho’s death have been greatly exaggerated March 28, 2019 When Casanova arrived in London in 1763, Soho was his first port of call. It was a place riddled with opium dens and brothels and coffee houses and restaurants, the place you went for cheap rent, good food, great drugs and the best parties. It’s been the go-to place for hedonists and sybarites ever since, [...]
Din Tai Fung Covent Garden review: Precision-engineering these Taiwanese dumplings comes at the cost of soul March 28, 2019 Eight years of writing restaurant reviews has not yet propelled me to culinary stardom. Nobody has asked me to be a judge on Celebrity Bake Off. Masterchef has never called. But I do have one claim to fame: I star in the staff training video for Taiwanese dumpling sensation Din Tai Fung. It happened in [...]
Drawing a crowd: Tate Modern pips British Museum to the post as UK’s most popular visitor attraction March 27, 2019 Tate Modern has knocked the British Museum off the top spot of the UK’s most popular visitor attractions, which it has occupied for a decade. The British Museum welcomed 5.82m visitors through its doors last year, while Tate Modern overtook it with 5.87m people – an increase of 3.7 per cent on 2017. Read more: [...]
Why I’m proud that the art industry has taken a stand against the Sackler family March 27, 2019 When I heard that the Tate Group was following the National Gallery’s example by refusing to take further donations from the Sackler Trust, funded by the Sackler family, I felt a sense of both relief and pride in the arts industry. The Trust has for many years made generous donations to leading artistic and philanthropic [...]
DEBATE: Are galleries and museums like the Tate right to shun donations from the controversial Sackler family? March 25, 2019 Are galleries and museums like the Tate right to shun donations from the controversial Sackler family? Sian Flynn, a curator and museums and galleries consultant, says YES. All publicly funded museums and galleries in Britain need to generate their own income to survive and thrive: this is a fact. They are also guardians of the nation’s [...]
London tourism industry pivots to long-haul markets in the face of Brexit March 24, 2019 Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the royal family: London is blessed with renowned attractions wrapped in tradition and heritage most cities can only dream of. But with Brexit looming, the UK tourism industry, which supports more than one tenth of the country’s jobs, has hit turbulence. Almost every industry representative I spoke with used the [...]
Why properties with less than 80 years left on the lease are suddenly popular with Brexit buyers March 22, 2019 In previous times, the demand for residential property with 80 years or less remaining on the leasehold was generally low. However, current market conditions favour a new breed of savvy buyers, seeking alternate methods of approaching the market who wish to benefit from continued Brexit-related uncertainty. Leasehold property is a depreciating asset, so the less [...]
Focus On Bow: Young professionals are changing the landscape of Bow, but upsizing proves costly March 22, 2019 Few areas in London have seen demographic change like east London, but even within the East End, Bow has changed a lot in recent years. “There is a definite shift taking place, highlighted by the arrival of a number of independent coffee shops, wine bars and restaurants over the past 18 months or so,” said [...]
Interiors: We delve into the world of knitted furniture, a crafty homeware solution with women at its core March 22, 2019 If you know your Mayfair art galleries, then Hauser & Wirth and Messum’s will be familiar territory. In the past few years both have established art centres in the English countryside – Hauser & Wirth in Somerset and Messums in Wiltshire – destination idylls to tempt us city folk into bucolic bliss. An exhibition on [...]